California Healthline Highlights Coverage of November Ballot Measures
Democrats and opponents of Proposition 85 -- which would mandate parental notification before an abortion for unmarried minors except in cases of medical emergency or a court order -- hope the initiative will benefit the campaign of Democratic gubernatorial nominee Phil Angelides, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) supported a similar measure on last year's ballot, but it was defeated. The governor has not taken a public stand on the proposition.
Schwarzenegger spokesperson Katie Levinson said, "The governor's position on parental notification has not changed," adding, "The people spoke clearly last fall" when the measure was defeated.
Angelides on Friday met with representatives of the National Abortion Rights Action League, a physician and a minister who said the measure could be potentially dangerous for teenage girls and could threaten abortion rights in the state. Angelides has called the proposition "an effort by anti-choice extremists to roll back the clock to a much darker day" (Hecht, Sacramento Bee, 7/29).
Supporters and opponents of Proposition 89 -- which would increase state taxes on banks and corporations to help fund a publicly financed election system -- say the measure will face legal challenges if it is approved in November, CongressDaily reports. The California Nurses Association sponsored the measure.
CNA says the initiative will reduce the influence of interest groups including the pharmaceutical industry and insurers, which the union says have kept prescription drug and other health care costs high, according to CongressDaily.
Karen Getman, an attorney representing the coalition to defeat the measures, said limits imposed by the proposition are below caps that the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled unconstitutional.
CNA spokesperson Charles Idelson said the proposition was written to be "bullet proof" to legal challenges (May, CongressDaily, 7/31).